Will Carlson be key to Seahawks’ effort?

One guy to watch in today’s Seahawks game against Arizona will be tight end John Carlson.

With fourth-stringer Kyle Williams starting at left tackle, Seattle likely will do some things to help the youngster out … and to keep quarterback Matt Hasselbeck from taking unnecessary shots to his still-healing ribs.

John Carlson

Carlson is a potent offensive force and has been particularly effective in tandem with Hasselbeck. He catch six passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns in Seattle’s opening day win over St. Louis.

But last week against Jacksonville, Carlson was kept in to help block far more than usual. In fact, he was blocking at the line of scrimmage on all four of Hasselbeck’s touchdown passes to wideouts Nate Burleson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

But Carlson is a legitimate downfield threat himself, so the Seahawks won’t want to bury him just as an extra blocker.

“He’s a talented guy. He’ll do whatever you ask him,” Hasselbeck said this week. “It was maybe a coincidence he was blocking on all our touchdowns, but he can obviously catch the ball and get open. It’s probably more fun for him that way, but he does whatever you ask him to do. He’s a great teammate.”

The Seahawks went with two tight ends and three wide receivers on numerous occasions against Jacksonville and can also use running backs to help chip the defensive ends or linebackers who are coming on the edges.

So we’ll see what happens today, but keep an eye out for what sort of formations and help the Hawks use to aid Williams and Steve Vallos, who is making his first start at left guard in place of Mansfield Wrotto.

Inactives: Defensive tackle Red Bryant is the only minor surprise on the inactive list. He’s joined by the five injured players — C.J. Wallace, Leroy Hill, Rob Sims, Walter Jones and Sean Locklear — along with third tight end Cameron Morrah.

Ken Lucas is on the field in warmups and apparently will start at cornerback after missing the week of practice while attending his father’s funeral in Mississipi.